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A wide choice of topics covered from the dawn of history right up to present days . Many of these have a wider relevance than purely within the context of Strathearn . The author's viewpoint often is at variance with the accepted opinions espoused elsewhere eg The Jacobite Uprisings and The Reformation .

Victoria who visited Crieff

and Strathearn in 1842 with her consort

Prince Albert

Crieff as a centre
of population hasbeenarounda long time . Recentdiscoveries
have revealed a Neolithic past when thispart of Strathearn was emerging as a place of importance The
presenttown however issolidly Victorian with a smattering remnant
of the Georgianinplaces like Burrell Square ( The Octagon of
yesteryear ) and Ruberslaw House . The followinglittleessay is yet anotherpluckedfrommy tattered little copy of Dixons “ Crieff in the Victorian Era “ and
was written in the year of the Jubilee in 1897 so reflectswhatour town was like in the pre motor car era !

﻿

“To know and understand Crieff as it exists
in the yearof the Diamond Jubilee of
her Majesty Queen Victoria , it is necessaryin the first placeto have some
years experience in the town , and in the second placeto have some sense of observation . There are
casts , sets ,cliques and circles,
sufficient to make India hide its facein very shame ; and there are more public houses , doctors , lawyers ,
ministers , billiard roomsand churches
thanin almostany townin either Scotland , England or Ireland. If you are in one set , you are
not in the other , your principal duty is to stick to it . You knowthe sets by their unfailing attachment ; you
knowthe circlesby theirconsequential airs ; you distinguish the casts by the waythey carrytheir heads ; and you can easily discover the cliquesby theirunflagging attentionto everybodies
tourist affairsbut their own .

In the summertime , Crieff lifeactuallybeginsto be of interestabout 10
am . The prosperousbusiness man chargesalong the High Streetshoulderinghis morning newspaper, and tellseverybody
“it’s a good “ , ora “ better day “ ;
all the tradesmenhanging about James
Square , scatter like birdsin a
thunderstorm ; the legalmen breakinto a professional trot , and shortly
disappearinto their offices ; all the
budding doctorson the hunt for broken
legs , flutter about at every corner ; the matron seeks out the cheapest dinner
, and stowsit away in an arrangement
like a poacher’s net ; the early risingvisitors swaggerabout in skirts
, blouses and ties , suggestingeverything that is Jubilee ; the tourist , in the garb of the northern
landlord, shouldershis knapsack , and strides away ; and the
localpress men chaseone another to along to the Police Courtwondering if the weather is likely to be
suitablefor a Comrie Earthquake . As
timewears onto noonday , the streets are throngedby another population . Where they come out
of is hardto say but they are all there
. Stout ladies with delicatelooking
husbandsstep slowlyalong the centre of the pavement and
stopand stare in every shop window .
Behind come their beaming but sorely oppressed daughters, watching every thing
and everybody , and behind them again comes the confoundedlittle brotherwho swearshe will tell “ all about it “ if they don’t buyhim somethingat the nearest sweetie shop . Mixedamong this crowd are the visitors whoimagine they know allabout
everything . When they reachthe Murray
fountain, they stopfor a minuteand criticise the architecture.
“ Gothic “ , says one , “ Grecian “ , saysanother . “ Both wrong “ remarksanother - “ Corinthian “ , and therethey stand pointing outwith
their walking sticksdefects inbalance , and generallycondemning thestyle of architecture . “ Who’s Murray ?
“ askssome one . “ Oh a Waterloo hero
“, answers some one else. “ Correct “, says another , not to be behind in
hishistorical information , and away
they walk congratulating themselveson
their knowledgeof everything that
isuseful . Then there is a multifariouscollection of visitors whose chief ideasof a quiet holiday are a paradeabout the streetsbefore dinner , anda short walk in the afternoon . You can see
themany day in the summer mashingaboutwith white parasols , and last year’s ball dresses improved at the neck
, and all lookingsupernaturally grand .

James Square with the Murray Fountain

to the right

It is not till the afternoon that Crieff
peoplethemselves are seenat their best . Round the shopsthe older peopleroam , admiring everything that is new, and
buyingeverything that is useless . A
carriage draws up ; the head shop manrushes to open the door ; the lady steps on to the pavementwith the airsof an eastern princess , he ordershalf a pound of cheeseand a pound of butter, and paysthe account ayear hence .Later
on there put in n appearancethe
peoplewho have reducedafternoon callingto a fineart, and whose sole workat home is dustingthe drawing - roommantle shelf , and looking outfor newand reliableservants .Thy skip
alongthe High street, and omit to recogniseall their old friends, and practiceafternoon teain the back garden , in prospect of thecounty gatheringsin the Autumn .
About four o’clock
stylish Crieff is afloat on bicycles . Like the new telegraph boys , they
believe , because they are in a hurry , they can knockeverybody over , and never say “Sorry “ .Away they fly , all laughingand
gay , and when the chivalrous youthsround the cornerobserve their
approach , they raise their caps, and
shortly follow in their wake . Two hours thereafter the daughters ofthe wheel return , tired and jaded , and next
morning they get breakfast in bed . It is aboutseven o’clock
in the eveningthat the male
populationis most in evidence . Newmarket
coats, sticks, canes , cigarettesand silk handkerchiefsfollow their mastersout to Ochtertyreor round the Knock, or oftenerto the nearest billiard table . The actual working population gathers in
James Squarewith the regularityof an eight - day clock and the pavement
swells with an interesting varietyof
people of all castes and classes , trying to impress the populationwith their outstanding importance . In the evening,
too , golfand bowling are in full swing
, and there arethe usual spooningand flirting at the tennis court . All are
enjoyable games, - particularly th tennis. The patronsbecome attachedto the game, sometimes in the interests ofsport , but too often from a business point of view , and there thefly abouttill after sundown , while their mammas are slaving at homewith lodgersto raise the rent- Sic vitaest.

Life in Crieff is an interesting study, and
the subject gives ample scope in itself for a book which has yet to be written
, In a short sketch , such as this , only the principal features can betouched upon . To dealwithn the subject in a completeform , one would require to startwith the men whose work is a profession , and
the men whose professionis doing
nothing ; joiningin the same
chapter, the class who mix up their
professionwith labour , by sweeping out
the shopon the Saturday morning . Then
there would come the working classes,
for whom we hold thehighest respect ,
and then all the othersections of the
peoplein the town which go to make up a
highly intelligent community . Crieff is worthseeing and knowing , and those who find nothing about it to interest and
amuse , must walk with their eyes closed , or be in lovewith their own shadow .”

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